The Price of Breaching the Contract - Chapter 25

Santiago couldn’t hide the growing unease as he approached the castle.

“Damn it!”

With a harsh curse, he swung his sword, and another mid-sized demon scattered and vanished. Demons had descended to a place where they absolutely shouldn’t be. And not just one or two, but quite a few.

The expedition, planned for at least a week, was cut short. They scouted other areas to avoid the demon clusters they’d found on the first day, but the situation only worsened. By the fourth day, when their strategic movements became clear, he quickly turned back.

Even as they left the forest and passed through the wall, demons were constantly around them. They were small demons that posed no threat to his life, but that was only because it was Santiago. Even the weakest small demon could instantly kill an ordinary territory resident.

Fortunately, the wall hadn’t completely lost its function. The knights and soldiers guarding the wall did an excellent job of stopping the demons. Few demons had infiltrated the territory, and even those were small ones that had slipped through and were being dealt with by the knights without any damage.

Santiago carefully examined the territory, preparing for any possible situation, as he approached the castle. Once he moved away from the wall, the demons disappeared. The ominous energy he sensed also gradually faded.

But then, a black shape entered the edge of his vision. Strangely, he couldn’t sense its energy, but it was definitely a demon. And in front of it, pale blonde hair faintly shone.

“…!!”

Santiago reacted faster than anyone else. He didn’t give anyone time to even open their mouths.

An impossible situation was unfolding before his eyes. He jumped off his horse and ran with all his might. In the blink of an eye, he reached Yulania’s side and threw his mana-filled sword at the growing demon.

The large sword, filled with chilling energy, rushed straight toward the demon.

Kieek—!

The sword struck, and the demon thrashed even more violently. The black shape writhed as if it would swallow Yulania whole.

Kieeee—!!

The demon’s cry was stained with pain and rage, and it directed those emotions at Yulania, who stood before it. A sharp shadow, like a beast’s paw, quickly lunged at her.

Clang—!

With a loud crash of metal, she was pulled into his arms.

“…Haa, haa…”

“Santiago…?”

Her questioning voice evoked both overwhelming relief and fury.

Yulania felt her husband’s solid warmth before she saw him.

Everything happened in an instant.

With Beehan’s shout, the demon seemed to grow larger, and then everything flashed before her eyes as the demon rampaged even more. When she came to her senses, she was in Santiago’s arms.

Feeling the comforting warmth, the suppressed fear finally erupted. The moment the demon grew, Yulania felt a threat to her life for the first time. The sensation was so distant that she didn’t even immediately recognize it as fear.

She didn’t understand what she had been trying to do. Some instinctive pull had momentarily taken over her mind. It was as if the demon, before it revealed its fierce nature, had been calling to her.

Santiago’s chest rose and fell roughly against her back, showing how frantically he had run. He held her tightly in his arms for a long time after disposing of the demon with a wave of his hand. His ragged breathing above her head showed his agitated emotions.

Seeing Santiago’s extreme reaction, Yulania realized how reckless she had been. Feeling her living husband’s movements, her legs gave way.

How long had they been like that? Just when the surroundings, which had seemed quiet because she only saw the demon, became noisy, Santiago pulled Yulania away from him and quickly turned her to face him.

Finally confirming that Yulania was safe, Santiago looked as if he was about to cry, which was very unlike him. She blankly looked up at her husband’s distorted face.

Her heart pounded from the sudden situation. How was he here? Still not fully recovered, she just stared at the man in front of her.

And then, a thunderous roar erupted.

“Yulania! Are you crazy?! Are you desperate to die?!”

“……”

“What are you doing out here?!”

His furious voice rang clearly in her ears. Yulania’s mind was blank, and she didn’t immediately understand what he meant.

“Why are you approaching a demon? Without any fear!”

“That’s—”

“Is it so hard to stay quietly in the castle?!”

“……”

But his clearly enraged tone awakened her mind. The demon had shown no signs of harming her. Certainly until a certain point. She wasn’t sure what had happened, so she tried to say something, but no explanation or excuse came to mind.

“What if I hadn’t come?! What would you have done?!”

“I don’t know. But until you came, it wasn’t dangerous.”

Yulania replied with difficulty. She knew that what she was saying wasn’t convincing, but she couldn’t think of anything better. The complex emotions and confused reason that had suddenly appeared mixed together, making her head a mess.

“What?”

Santiago grabbed Yulania’s shoulders with his strong, leather-gloved hands and faced her directly. His grip tightened so much that her shoulders, covered in a fur cloak, began to hurt.

“Do you know what I’ve been seeing out there for the past few days? You wouldn’t say that if you knew.”

“……”

“Do you even think?!”

Amidst the confusion of what had happened, Yulania was simply overwhelmed by her husband’s fierce momentum and closed her mouth. Soon, as his voice grew louder, Yulania’s emotions became a mess.

Seeing Santiago’s frightening anger, her eyes naturally welled up with tears. She flinched as he snapped at her with a sharp tone. His fierce energy reawakened the fear of the demon that she hadn’t felt a moment ago.

At the same time, a sense of relief washed over her, and a feeling of injustice slowly rose. She felt like she could have done something on her own this time. It was so frustrating that it had immediately turned into a mess.

“Really. It really looked harmless.”

“That’s nonsense.”

“Why would I lie about this? I’m grateful that you came but is there any need to yell like this?”

Listening to him, she felt resentful. He treated Yulania like a child left out in the water. As if she had caused an accident because she didn’t listen to an adult.

“You almost died!”

“That’s true, but that’s true, but…”

Yulania was momentarily overwhelmed by Santiago’s energy. She tried to explain the situation, but it became even more difficult as her reason returned. She had a vague memory of what she had felt and what she had been trying to do a moment ago.

“I’m going crazy with anger because of you! Because you! Keep stepping forward without knowing anything!”

“I just, the demon was different from what I thought.”

She tried to argue back, but her body, which had been greatly shocked, didn’t follow her will. The fear that had belatedly washed over her spread, and her whole body trembled frequently. Her face, which had turned cold, flushed with heat, and her eyes turned red.

At that moment, Beehan, who had finished clearing the area and rushed over, knelt down with a desperate look.

“My lord. Princess.”

Santiago kept his eyes fixed on Yulania, whose eyes were starting to fill with tears, and didn’t even glance at Beehan.

“I have no excuse. I have committed a crime worthy of death.”

“Get lost.”

When Beehan repeatedly apologized, Santiago finally glanced at him and had the leisure to look around. There were many eyes watching because of the commotion that had occurred in a short time. The knights of the expedition who had followed him were all back.

He frowned as if everything was bothering him, rubbed his forehead, and opened and closed his eyes tightly. Then, he gave a concise order to the knights who were waiting and watching.

“Search thoroughly and return.”

“Yes, my lord!”

A disciplined answer followed.

As the knights left for their respective positions, he grabbed Yulania’s hand and headed towards the castle with relentless steps. No, he tried to, but he had to stop and turn around after only a short distance. There was no way she could keep up with his stride. Santiago felt a frustrating feeling that his heart would burst once again at her weak and slow pace.

Fortunately, his horse was following behind him. He lifted her onto the horse and quickly rode away, holding the reins from behind.

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